PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 139, 21 September 1910, Page 5

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES. ||i DEBT EXTINCTION. 1 'Jj By Telegraph.—Press Association, ' a Wellington, List N%ht- VX The House met at 2.30. ' "jiH On the motion of Sir J. G. Wanfy , ?a| papers relating to pastoral runs in Mackenzie Country were referred to thp . Lands Committee. Several amendments to the Debts Extinction Bill were Intro* -ifs duced by Governor's message. The Pi*. \vs| mier explained that the amendments .SB were merely in the wording of the Bill, 3| and did not affect its provisions u ' |fj passed. •, -Jgj THE WATER-POWER SCHEME. The following amendments were also - S introduced by Governor's message:—Ap- . propriation clause in the Crimes Amend- " 'sl ment Act, Amendment to Public Works ,■•.!§ and Land Settlement Bill, providing for 'l an additional £500,000, which Sir J. Qt. Ward explained was the amount pro- ■ w posed to be utilised for water power con« 'fst servation. The amendment was introduced in order to avoid having two separate loan Bills. Replying to Mr. M«t- 4: sey, the Premier explained that the Bill \J dealing with water power conservation tpf would be independent of the Loan BilL : J and the House would therefore have alt ",cl opportunity of discussing the proposals* ' raj After further discussion Sir J. G. Ward w said he would withdraw the amendment and ask the House 011 the following day. !™| to pass the second reading of the Bill -"m authorising the expenditure of half fc million for water power conservations The Government had come to the con* $3 elusion that the sooner it stopped private companies from having option® ■ V. over water-power rights, the better. H« ■ I would ask the House to put all thfl money Bills through at an early datei - tfso that tie Dominion could obtain tlij - lii r? y n a \r e ; in « t0 Mr - F™»er, Sir J. G. Ward said that loan authorise* V 3 tions were' always taken first, as if '' I money was not voted it would be us* less to proceed with a Bill giving effect to proposals involving the expenditure of ' public money. jj® Hon. R. McKenzie said the Govern- .''it men>t had already power, under the Act,. /;%. to raise money for water-power utilisa- *| tion. The work in connection with 'i! water power would be carried out by the Public Works Department, and it ft was quite reasonable that the loan '-Itj should be included in .the Public Work*. Bill. A large majority of people in th«' 3 Dominion desired the scheme to launched as early as possible. He had' '!S hi application the other day from m - Jig member of the House for 10,000 horse power for the manufacture of nitrates on -fa the West Coast. Various towns had* '•ll asked permission to go in for water -,' M power schemes of their own, but the " -H Government had to see that the whole SB market was retained for the State. • * '|§ Mr. Masaey said that not one in * W thousand of the people knew of the Government's proposals, rnd not ,10 pes 1 im cent, of the members of the House understood them. It was unfair to aak for authority to raise £500,000 under 1 -H these circumstances to make the sup. \>l py of water power a State monopofo i It would throttle industry. •»$ Sir J. G. Ward s.tid it would be sui- i cida! to allow private enterprise to contr°l this great industry. The discussion V+ S was adjourned, and other amendment J introduced by Governor's message were agreed to. 6 STATE ADVANCES. V'f The State Guaranteed Advances Act: Amendment was introduced by Gover- **3 nor's message. Sir J. G. Ward explained that the Bill provided for the raising of loans i required under the Act in conjusctioa ' $ with ordinary loans, and« for thtf-altera* $ tion m the terms of various advances, ->«| Also for making progressive payment* • m to settlers as well as to workers, and ' J palTct m alterations the prinoi-, Replying to Mr. Okey, Sir J. G. Ward 'A said it was not intended to ad- A vances on buildings already erected, as $ the cost would be too great. The Bilj was read a first time. PUBLIC WORKS EXPENDITURE. 1

In moving the second reading of the v; Public Works and Land Settlement Bill, - Sir J. G. Ward related the amount spent $1 on public works last year, which totalled £2,169,278. Requirements for public |>| works up till next September are e#timated at £2,-200,000, in addition to V'ljl £11,750,000 authorised by the Bill. The * Government would require to transfer from the Consolidated Revenue a sum of' * M £400,000, which, with the balance avail- ' able, would provide the amount required.. , J However, he expected to be able td transfer a larger sum than £400,000 ...<J from the Consolidated Fund. The Pre- Vjj mier went into a general defence of the "J Government's borrowing policy, which A-J was necessary in view of the develop- • ment of the country and the rinnafamft demand for new railways. A sum of £153,000 was necessary for additions to open lines. For many years to come, expenditure would be required for fresh ni rolling stock, which would be a visible ■;S asset. New Zealand stood high in the > opinion of the financiers of the oid Country. As a corollary to the Public ' % Works expenditure, it was necessary to raise money for lending to settlers at a "r low rate of interest. It was a good policy for the Government to carry out all .t its borrowing operations at one time. ?- He did not consider it an over estimate >| to say that for every million spent, the .-'ifj Dominion gained three millions, while ! ■, the increase in public and private $ wealth, created by borrowed money, wig ten millions for every one expended. In vf five or six years it would be unneces- '1 sary for the Dominion to spend any* ;-| thing like the amount now being spent *' -'-j on roads and bridges. The loan pro* ? posals had been carefully thought out , by the Government, and were necessary > J for actively carrying out the develop- '% ment of the Dominion.

In the House in the evening, Mr. Massey, speaking on the seoond reading of the Aid .to Public Works Bill, said the Government ought to decide . what amount was necessary, and fairly alio- ■"s cate the expenditure. When the Gov- * ;

eminent asked the House to vote large sums of money it ought to supply de- ' J tails of the proposed expenditure. It was well known that the railway lines i*4 cost some thousands per mile,more than ,was the cost some fifteen years ago. Thi» * J was due to .the obsolete methods of do- -ij ing work. Mr. Massey condemned ths 3 demoralising system of parliamentary ''2 grants, which many supporters of the Government were anxious to see abol- ",1-J ished. '|H The Hon. R. McKenzie, replying to ,I f| Mr. Massey, said the standard of- work ■:1 of railway construction had been raised, v$ thus adding to the expense. Besides, j§ many 6f the railways under construction . | presented difficulties not encountered in maiking existing railways. Referring to' 'SB Parliamentary grants, he agreed that if ■' *Ji .there was a proper system of local go- ...wf vernment these would be unnecessary^; , "Ml The Minister defended the co-operative ' ,H| system, which- was satisfactory to'the men generally. \|| (Left sitting.) \ v «